The general background and math/physics description of the present invention is similar to the disclosure made in Hyland supplemented by the disclosure made in JBIS.
The dynamic Casimir effect is a possible mechanism for the transfer of momentum for propulsion. Previous investigations assumed mechanical motion of a mirror to generate thrust. Because of the finite strength of materials and the high frequencies necessary, the amplitudes of motion must be restricted to the nanometer range.
More than 60 years ago, H. B. G. Casimir and Casimir and D. Polder explained the retarded van der Waals force in terms of the zero-point energy of a quantized field. Both the static and dynamic Casimir effects are discussed in large reviews. The dynamic Casimir effect has involved the interaction between moving conductive surfaces functioning as mirrors and the ground state (“vacuum state”) of the electromagnetic field.
When estimating the magnitude of the force that could be generated, Maclay and Forward assumed that the amplitude of high frequency motion of an actual mirror must be in the nanometer range due to the finite strength of materials. This restriction limits the possible propulsive force to very small values.
The well-known static Casimir effect between two conductive plates has been shown to produce a force equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level when the two conductive plates are 10 atomic diameters apart. This pressure is a force of over 100,000 pascals. The magnitude of this Casimir force decreases at the 4th power of the increased distance between the conductive plates.
In a thorough treatment of the pressure on moving mirrors due to the Casimir effect, Neto and his colleagues took a perturbative approach consistent with the assumption that the mirror motion be constrained to very small amplitudes. Wilson and Nature demonstrated the dynamical Casimir effect for the first time in 2011 by producing microwave photons by mechanical movement of a conductive surface about a nanometer at about 5% of the speed of light. The invention creates the effect of moving conductive surfaces that are larger at higher velocity and acceleration over a longer distance. Hyland and IBIS disclose and explain the physics of the momentum transfer.
Wilson confirms that the dynamic Casimir effect does exist because photons are produced from the EM ground state. However, the boundary conditions in Wilson confine the field so no net force is produced. The boundary conditions taught in Hyland do not confine the field thus Hyland can produce force